Canadians are unhappy with Rogers Communications' recent announcement to increase prices on some of its plans and bundles starting this month, meaning customers will pay more for their wireless packages in 2024.
Rogers Communications spokesperson Cam Gordon said Yahoo News Canada an average price increase of $5 per month will apply to Rogers and Fido wireless customers who are not on a contract, while others will experience no change in their basic monthly service charges for the duration of their contract.
The price change update came around the same time the telecommunications company was dealing with complaints about service outages from Ontario users Thursday evening, which affected about 55,000 people and lasted less than an hour before returning to normal, according to Downdetector.
Dissatisfied with the two contrasting events, Canadians took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their anger at the Toronto-based wireless carrier.
Rogers was in southern Ontario last night. Now they are raising their prices today. Corporate monopolistic greed knows no bounds in Canada. 🤑
https://t.co/BkNQvsvIi5
- Mike Morden (@mmorden) January 5, 2024
Like what are you doing @Rogers
Imagine expecting to raise people's prices when you can't even guarantee internet service.
- H (@heyhalima) January 5, 2024
If there's anything worse than your baseball team's offseason, it's the reliability of your internet service.@Rogers
- VOT6 (@ViewsOnThe6) January 5, 2024
Thank goodness for Twitter. I can't even get a damn update from the @Rogers website about a network outage. I was about to kick my router because I thought it was my fault. Here we go again!! #rogersout #again I'm happy to pay for a service I can't count on.
- hb✨ (@hmberry84) January 5, 2024
Also, shutting down your phone lines to prevent customers from calling is a terrible way to manage customer service. You charge people hundreds of dollars a month for your services, at least keep them operational - without internet you can't have a smart home pic.twitter.com/CuuY3L6XPt
- Philip Jacome (@PhilJacome) January 5, 2024
In response to the frustration among Canadians over the service outage, Gordon said Yahoo Canada While some customers in the Greater Toronto Area may have experienced a "brief degradation of their residential services" Thursday evening due to a technical issue, there was "no impact to cell phones."
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"We strive to deliver mobile and residential services with the highest standard of quality and reliability to provide our customers with the best network experience," he added.
Canadians are doubting the Trudeau government's promise to lower prices
In late March 2023, the federal government approved Rogers' multi-million dollar acquisition of Shaw Communications, after which Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Rogers Communications chief Tony Staffieri pledged to lower prices for customers.
"Should the parties fail to meet their obligations, our government will use all means in our power to enforce the terms on behalf of Canadians," Champagne said at the time, noting that Rogers Communications is subject to financial penalties of up to $1. billion for non-compliance.
The recent price hike put the merger terms, which did not include any of Rogers' commitments to stabilize or reduce the cost of its wireless plans, back in the spotlight, with the opposition accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government of giving Canadians a "slap in the face". sight."
"Minister @FP_Champagne, you promised that prices would stay low. You promised that the Rogers-Shaw Deal would create a fourth player that would lower cell phone bills. A $9 per month increase by Rogers and Bell is a blow in the face of Canadians and is a prison sentence. 'phone hell in a country that pays the most', Shadow Minister of Pan-Canadian Trade and Competition Ryan Williams wrote on X.
The NDP's Bhutila Karpoche also criticized the Liberal government, accusing them of "frauding" Canadians.
"Canadians pay some of the highest phone plan costs in the world. After the federal government promised to cut costs by 25 percent, Rogers will increase costs on certain plans this year. It's yet another way Canadians are being ripped off," Karpoche Posted on X.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne denounced Rogers' new plans to make Canadians pay more for the airline's services, but said progress had been made to lower prices.
"Let's be clear: while some progress has been made in lowering prices, Canadians are still paying too much and seeing too little competition." Read the full article below about telecom services in Canada.
I will continue to fight for Canadian consumers every day. https://t.co/aNfHsdWkWX
- François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) January 5, 2024
Canadian telecommunications associations, Rogers, say prices are falling
In response to public criticism of Rogers Communications' rising prices, Cam Gordon said Yahoo Canada the telecom giant introduced new plans in May, September and November last year to make it more affordable for Canadians.
This was reported by the Canadian Telecommunications Association, an organization that works with the government and other stakeholders Yahoo Canada "Prices for mobile wireless access and Internet access have been declining for several years, despite overall significant increases in inflation."
The price index for internet access services has fallen by almost 7 per cent over the past five years, while prices for mobile services have fallen by more than 47 per cent over the same period, according to Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index.
Internationally, airlines in countries such as the United States and Australia have also recently increased prices for many of their services, including a 17 percent increase in the United Kingdom.
Although the cost of data plans has steadily declined, Canada remains among the top 25 countries with the most expensive wireless plans in the world.
Add to that the frequent outages, which, according to multiple accounts from Rogers Communications users, only proved unreliable in September and October 2023, a year after the company's massive 2022 system outage that affected more than 12 million Canadians. .
Yahoo Canada also contacted other major carriers in Canada, including Bell, Telus and Freedom Mobile, to confirm whether they too were implementing a price increase for 2024, but received no response before publishing.
